The
award recognizes a community's commitment
to improving access to trails and
promoting their use and importance
for increasing physical activity.
The award is for commitment to long
term change through community design,
trail planning, heightened awareness
of active community environments,
physical activity promotion, and increased
trail use:

Arkansas
River Trail Medical Mile Project,
Little Rock, Arkansas

Memorial
Hospital Foundation - River Bluff
Trail, Logansport, Indiana

It
was literally impossible for the American
Trails Board to narrow the Trails
For Health Award down to one single
candidate, so this year it will be
a dual award. These two winners have
gone above and beyond the call of
duty, and have proven themselves to
be of a kind that will bring more
and more awareness to public health
issues for years to come.

Arkansas
River Trail Medical Mile Project

The Medical
Mile trail project in Little Rock,
AR

The Arkansas
River Trail Medical Mile is a multi-year
collaboration project between the
City of Little Rock and Heart Clinic
Arkansas, the state's largest cardiology
clinic. To raise awareness of public
health issues and the benefits of
trail use, the collaboration was developed
to raise $350,000 for the construction
of a "Medical Mile" on the Arkansas
River Trail. In two years, the project
brought in $2.1 million and is recognized
as the nation's first outdoor linear
health museum concept.

Central
to the development of the Medical
Mile was the desire to provide a highly
visible educational art amenity that
would speak to the need for increased
exercise and physical activity through
trail use.

American Trails Board members present Terry Eastin the 2006 National Trails and Health Award

One of the most unique
parts of the project was the development
of the Headwaters Partnership for
the Arkansas River Trail. Supported
by six national organizations, including
the National Park Service, five state
agency directors, a county judge,
two mayors, a national television
station affiliate, and sixteen local
organizations and coalitions, the
Headwaters Partnership served as the
conduit for establishment of the Medical
Mile Project partnership.

Because of the Medical Mile project's
health awareness aspects, millions
worldwide will be provided inspirational
information through art and interpretation
as they walk, bike, jog, or blade
the Medical Mile of the Arkansas River
Trail.

Memorial
Hospital Foundation - River Bluff
Trail, Logansport, Indiana

Exercise
on the River Bluff Trail

Just over five years ago,
there was a need for Memorial Hospital
to help ensure the health of area
residents. It was clear that a health
crisis was looming, evidenced by the
increasing poor health habits and
physical health of the population.
At the same time, a committee of Logansport
Memorial Hospital employees was brainstorming
ways of celebrating the hospital's
75th anniversary.

The team
decided to emphasize the leadership's
concerns for the community, to stress
exercise as a path to a healthy life
style and longevity and to insure
the protection of community environments
by developing a walking trail.

The River
Bluff Trail in Logansport, Indiana

The River Bluff Trail was
the result, and Memorial Hospital
Foundation was selected to lead the
project.

The River Bluff Trail
is Memorial Hospital's most aggressive
and unique campaign for promoting
good health behaviors. The daily impact,
as evidenced by stories heard from
people whose lives have been improved,
is truly rewarding.

A key factor
was preserving the area's natural
beauty, while developing the site
for community use. The project's success
is an encouragement for others to
follow their example and make a unique
leap towards bettering the lives in
their community.